Cossack Culture Festival In Belgorod

The Cossack Culture Festival this past Sunday on 13th
of July took place at Victory Park, which is located in the
center of Belgorod.There were
over a hundred artists in Cossack costumes that came together from Belgorod and
Voronezh regions to played folk music and dance. Also the Novooskolskiy
military history club “defense line” demonstrated their skills of mastering the
use of ancient weapons.

Tikhaya Rossiya – Peaceful Russia

Vladimir Leonidovich Shekalov’s current photo
exhibition is titled “Tikhaya Rossiya – Peaceful Russia”. His photographs are currently being
displayed at the Belgorod Photography Art Gallery, which goes by the name of VA Sobrovina.

Vladimir has worked in many genres of photography, but his favorite is landscapes. He has participated in many different personal and joint exhibitions in Moscow, Belgorod, Nahodka, Vladivostok and Vyborg. He is retired now and spends most of his time to his devoted hobby of photography.

Vladimir is a member of a Union of Journalists of Russia. Over the years he has worked for several different newspapers and magazines in Russia.

Vladimir Schekalov was born on July 18, 1949 in Leningrad, Saint Petersburg. He spent his childhood and youth years in the city of Vyborg, located in the Leningrad region. In 1966 he moved to Belgorod. He has lived and worked in Norilsk, Baku, Nahodka, and Vladivostok.

Vladimir started to take photos at the age of 10 when his father presented him with a Zorky camera for his birthday. Ever since that moment he has been interested in photography.

In December of 1965 Vladimir’s family moved to Belgorod where he graduated from school number 16. Then Vladimir served in the Soviet Army in the city of Baku (Azerbayan) as a military photographer from 1968 to 1970. After the military Vladimir worked as an installer for 2 years in the city of Norilsk.

In 1973 Vladimir became a photo correspondent for a Belgorod newspaper “Leninskaya Smena”. 1n 1977 Vladimir attended the Voronezh State University and studied photojournalism. In 1985 – 1997 Vladimir lived and worked in the Far East, Primorye. He worked for various newspapers; such as the “Red Flame’, Nahodka’s Prospect”, and the “Nahodka’s Worker”. Upon returning to Belgorod Vladimir worked as a special correspondent for “Dobrostroy” a regional newspaper. The first issue of this newspaper was on the 11th of July 1997 and by the end of the year this newspaper was renamed as the “Belgorod News”. Vladimir worked for this newspaper up until 2009.

From 2011-2013 Vladimir was a photographer of the Belgorod Photo Gallery by V.A. Sobrovin. Now he is retired and enjoys being around his family and friends. He still likes to travel around photographing landscapes and people.

Personal Exhibitions

July 1993. The city of Nahodka titled “Black and White Life”.
March 2005. “In City of Vyborg Leningrad Region”.
July 2007. “Searching For The Beauty”, devoted to Vladimir’s 60th birthday.